The floating solar power plant includes an adjacent “tour facility” featuring an elevated, circular room for viewing the 290,000 solar panels, as well as panoramic view of the bay with Sakurajima volcano in the background.

Kyocera said it hopes the whole project will help “foster a deeper understanding of renewable energy and further facilitate a low-carbon society.”

In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, interest in shifting to more renewable energy sources have heightened.

The Japanese government introduced a restructured FIT program in July 2012 to encourage the use of renewable energy. The program stipulates that local utilities are required to purchase 100% of the power generated from solar installations of more than 10 kilowatts for a period of 20 years.